


my mind's a mess (and heart's a wreck)

by baeconandeggs, ordinary_days01



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: BAE2017, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 13:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11127771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ordinary_days01/pseuds/ordinary_days01
Summary: baekhyun really questions why he's still friends with jongdae.





	my mind's a mess (and heart's a wreck)

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR: (as tagged)  
> PROMPT #: 028  
> 
> 
> Disclaimer: The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> Author's Note: hello dear prompter! this story turned a lot more angsty than intended but i sincerely hope you like it! thank you mods for being so supportive and understanding!

Baekhyun sits on his slightly worn out couch with the shades drawn, a huge polka dotted comforter surrounding his body, and _The Choice_ playing on his TV for the sixth (or seventh… or maybe the _tenth_ ) time that day.

He’s at the part when Gabby and Travis meet for the first time and listening to their witty banter draws a very faint smile to his lips. At this point, he knows the movie like the back of his hand and starts reciting the whole scene as he’s watching it play out before his eyes.

_Gabby’s mumbling ‘excuse me’s’ and ‘hello’s’ as she marches up to Travis’s yard to get his attention. Travis notices her and turns down the music. “Sorry, um, the music’s a little loud. I didn’t hear you.”_

Baekhyun rises his tone to match Gabby’s. _“Yes, it was. It is so loud!”_

He’s so immersed in the movie that he barely registers the sound of the lock turning, his apartment door opening and not a second later, softly closing.

 _“Baekhyun!”_ he hears a voice shriek somewhere to his left and he honestly doesn’t remember what happens next until he somehow finds himself behind his couch, there’s a high pitched scream and someone’s slumping to their knees in agony.

“What the fuck Baekhyun!? You just punched me in the eye!” Jongdae shouts, pointing an accusatory finger at him. Baekhyun’s eyes nearly bulge out of his head.

“What the fuck Jongdae, how did you get in here!?”

“Why don’t you try hiding your spare key somewhere else you dipshit!” Jongdae rolls onto his back and holds his right eye, wincing at the contact. He’s heaving as if he’d gotten the wind knocked out of him and Baekhyun _almost_ feels guilty. “I can’t believe you punched me!”

The blonde snorts. “Why don’t you try something called knocking and _maybe_ you won’t get punched in the face.”

Jongdae musters the iciest glare he can with just one eye and at this, Baekhyun actually laughs, though it’s a bit too empty for Jongdae’s liking. “What do you want kiddo?” He asks as he returns to his spot on the couch.

Jongdae finally gets off the floor and stands right in front of his blond friend with his hands on his hips sassily. He spots the older’s roots showing and Jongdae vaguely thinks he looks ridiculous bundled up on his couch in the middle of summer watching _The Choice_ of all movies-- but he chooses not to voice this. 

“You’re kinda blocking the TV Dae,” Baekhyun irritably mumbles and Jongdae sighs, rolling his eyes.

“Do you know how crazy you look right now? Because it’s pretty damn sad. What’s going on Baek? You don’t answer the phone, you won’t respond to any texts, hell, you _clearly_ don’t even open your door! Are you seriously still hung up on Jongin?” He knows it’s a jerk move to mention the other when _obviously_ it was the issue but Jongdae couldn’t help it! Baekhyun was neglecting the help his friends were offering and if no one had the balls to say it, he doesn’t have any problem letting it be known. 

Baekhyun’s crosses his arms defensively. “And what if I am?”

“It’s been _two months_ Baek!” Jongdae exclaims. “You _need_ to get over it.”.

Okay so maybe he _is_ moping, sue him. Everyone would be after getting completely dumped by someone you thought was the love of your life.

 

It happened June 21st. Jongin usually got home from his shift at their local auto shop at around 8pm the days he worked. That specific night he was later than usual—Baekhyun not hearing the keys jingling in the lock and the door knob turning open until nearly 10 o’clock. He was beyond worried.

“Hey you,” Baekhyun greeted with a smile on his face, turning his attention from the TV to stand up and get a much needed hug from his boyfriend.

Right when he was within arms length, Jongin’s features scrunched up as if he was in deep thought about something, and at the last second, side-stepped the shorter to head to the open kitchen instead. Baekhyun had to fight the frown that made its way to his face as he followed the brunette, coming to a rest with his hip leaning on the island while Jongin seemed to be fetching a drink. 

Baekhyun stayed silent, observing the other and wondering why the air around them felt static with tension. Did he do something wrong? Did something happen? Did Jongin lose his job? So many questions were swirling around his head in a frenzy but he had not the slightest clue what was up with the younger.

Finally Jongin shut the fridge and faced Baekhyun with a freshly opened bottle of water gripped in his hand. He shifted from foot to foot, determined not to meet Baekhyun penetrating stare.

Giving up, Baekhyun huffed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Are you going to tell my why you’re acting like I don’t exist anymore or what?”

Jongin flinched at the hurt that was obviously in his tone. “Um… Baek… I think that--that we should uh--”

“Get on with it,” Baekhyun insisted, snapping his fingers impatiently.

“Why don’t we go sit in--”

“No,” Baekhyun said. He could see the confliction in the other’s eyes and felt his stomach drop in horrible anticipation. “Whatever you have to say,” he took a deep breath, “say it right here, right now, to my face.”

Jongin glanced away, seeming to gather the confidence to utter words that would pierce Baekhyun’s very soul. “I think we should, uh, see other, uh, people,” he finally stuttered out, resting his gaze on Baekhyun at last.

Baekhyun’s head snapped back as if he’d been slapped. Had he heard right? Did Jongin suggest they see other people? Did Jongin--did he just essentially _dump_ him?

“Wh-why?” Was the only word his lips were able form.

Jongin abruptly moved toward him, reaching out to hold his hands but Baekhyun jerked away as if he’d been burned. Jongin sighed.

“Baek… I just--I don’t know. I just don’t see you like _that_ anymore. I almost think of you as an older brother. Wouldn’t it be weird to date your older brother? We’ve been friends since high school. It was bound that things would always stay platonic right? Besides, I… I found someone else.”

Baekhyun felt a huge headache coming on. “Oh my gosh. You just said you think of me as a _brother_ oh my _gosh_!” He didn’t know what to think, what to say, what to feel. He only knew that if he didn’t throw something, he was going to explode. 

He picked up the first thing he could grab, which was fortunately a plastic cup he’d left lying on the counter and chucked it at the younger. 

“Ow! What the hell Baek!” Jongin screeched, rubbing the offended area on his arm.

“You think of me as a _brother_ Jongin! And you--you found someone else,” he said brokenly, tears beginning to blur his vision. “How was that supposed to make me feel!? Happy!? _Ugh_ I hate you, I hate you, _I hate you_!” He shouts as he blindly continued to throw whatever his hands landed on. 

He didn’t even notice Jongin steadily making his way toward him—all the while trying to avoid being hit in the face—until familiar strong arms wrap around him in a tight embrace. A sob ripped from Baekhyun’s chest and he clutches the other, wanting to hate him but not wanting to let this go. 

“I’m so sorry Baek. I’m so sorry,” Jongin repeated over and over until the shorter finally calmed down enough to gather himself and pull away, creating an aching distance between them. 

“What now?” Baekhyun sniffled, a blush creeping up on his face because of how ridiculous he must appear, puffy eyed and runny nose. Jongin shrugs.

“I was going to crash over at Sehun’s place because… you know…” he trailed off and Baekhyun nodded though he could feel his eyes starting to water all over again.

“I guess I’ll just…”

And Baekhyun never heard the end of that sentence because before he knew it, he heard the door close and that’s when he crumbled to floor, resting his arms on his knees as he cried his eyes out along with the pieces of his broken heart.

 

The next few days were a blur. Jongin returned to gather his belongings and on the last day that he’d ever step foot in that apartment, he utter a few words to Baekhyun but the other didn’t register what they were—too wrapped up in his thoughts of _why, why, why…_

He loved Jongin. _So much._ And granted he was only twenty years old, Baekhyun fell hard for him. The fact this his feelings were not only one-sided but invested in someone who had the same exact feelings _he_ had for _someone else_ only made the break up that much harder to deal with. 

It didn’t help that the days afterwards everything Baekhyun looked at in their once shared apartment reminded him of the man. 

It was maddening and completely heartbreaking. 

He resorted to the first thing he could do to save himself from busting out the waterworks every five seconds—sit in front of the TV and stay there. (Unless, he had to use the bathroom or make something to eat of course. He may have felt like he was dying on the inside but Baekhyun would like to live to see himself enter his junior year of college _thank you very much_.)

 

“When was the last time you showered? It smells like socks that haven’t been washed in two weeks and cat pee in here.”

Snapping back to the present, Baekhyun focuses his attention on his sort-of-curious-but-very-disgusted friend. When _was_ the last time he’d showered?

Baekhyun rests a finger on his chin in thought. “Hm… I think three? Four days ago?”

“That’s it, get up right now,” Jongdae demands, manhandling Baekhyun when he tries to nestle himself deeper into his couch in vain. He whines as his best friend literally drags him into the bathroom, leaving momentarily only to throw Baekhyun’s towel in his face and slam the door shut.

“You’ve got thirty minutes then we’re leaving!” Jongdae pauses. “Oh and do you still have that bag of peas from last year? They better be in there or I’m drowning you in the tub.”

Baekhyun hears his footsteps getting fainter as he calls out, “Where are we going?” 

He gets no response. That little shit.

 

Baekhyun’s still contemplating what made him trust Jongdae enough to let the other blindfold him. Maybe staring at his TV for two weeks straight caused him to lose a bit of his sanity.

“Are we there yet?” Baekhyun asks for the millionth time. He swears they’d been driving for at least an hour but figures any drive would feel longer than it actually is when you have no idea of your surroundings. 

Finally he feels the car come to a complete stop and the engine is cut. Baekhyun’s hands start to sweat. He has every reason to not trust Jongdae but the boy _was_ his best friend for a reason right? He wouldn’t intentionally lead him to his own death, right? 

_Pfft, yeah,_ right.

Baekhyun hears a car door being open and shut and two seconds later his door his opening and Jongdae is pulling his arm to get him to stand. When he’s safely on his own two feet, Jongdae takes his hand and they begin walking. The closer they get to their supposed destination, the more Baekhyun can hear a lot of activity going on around him.

Jongdae halts his steps and Baekhyun stumbles a bit before regaining his balance. Jongdae’s voice startles him.

“I’m going to take off your blindfold now. But! Before I do, promise me you’ll keep an open mind and try to have fun today.”

Baekhyun furrows his brows, his suspicion of the other growing larger by the second. “Okay?”

“Great!” Jongdae chirps and pulls the fabric off roughly. Baekhyun’s instantly blinded by the sunlight and actually let’s out a hiss as he covers his eyes with his forearm. 

“Are you trying to disable me!? It’s bright as hell out here, Christ,” Baekhyun grumbles and he can practically _feel_ the frown on Jongdae’s face. 

“Did you just _hiss_?” the brunette asks disbelievingly. Baekhyun opens his mouth to answer but quickly snaps it shut when Jongdae holds up a finger. “On second thought, don’t answer that. _Anyway,_ welcome to Seoul’s one and only _Water Festival_!” he sing-songs and flashes Baekhyun his cheshire smile, something weirdly mischievous dancing in his eyes. Baekhyun gulps.

They continue walking and after getting their tickets and wristbands that shows they didn’t do any B&E, Baekhyun spots a trio of familiar faces up ahead conversing with each other. He shoots Jongdae a quizzical look but the other just brushes him off and heads toward them.

When they’re within listening range, Yixing greets to them with an adorable dimple and Minseok all but throws himself at the other.

“Baek!” Baekhyun, caught by surprise, nearly falls on his ass but Yixing quickly steadies him with a hand on his shoulder. “We missed you so much! Why don’t you ever answer my calls anymore? We heard you broke it off with the hottie.” Minseok pulls back and offers a sympathetic smile. 

“Hey!” Lu Han protests somewhere behind them and the group laughs.

“Don’t worry Lu, you’re the only hottie I have eyes for,” Minseok teases, shooting him a cheesy wink and Jongdae makes barfing noises at the literal hearts in Lu Han’s eyes. He’s _totally_ whipped.

“Yeah… I-- we thought it would be best if we saw other people,” Baekhyun mutters quietly, but everyone hears him clearly anyway. A moment of silence passes between them. Jongdae clears his throat awkwardly. 

“So… anyone wants to get on that water slide? It looks hella fun.” He makes a motion to the gigantic waterslide directly to the left of the entrance.

Yixing nods his head quickly and just like that, the tension dispurses. “I’ve been eyeing it since we got here. Let’s go!” 

 

Baekhyun can’t remember a time that he’s had this much fun. 

Minseok and he are practically attached at hip, the shorter man demanding Baekhyun make up for all their time apart but he doesn’t mind one bit. He has a feeling a certain doe-eyed Chinese male does though and can’t help internally cackling at Lu Han’s kicked puppy face. 

He stops counting after they reach their seventh water slide in a row but at this point, he’s sure they had to have gotten on at least half the rides there.

Jongdae suggests they stop at a cute little shop on their way to the food court and since no one protests against it, that’s how Baekhyun ends up getting teary eyed over an artificial fucking _seashell_ because he suddenly remembers when Jongin had dragged him to the beach on a beautiful spring day simply because he wanted to spend every minute of it with the other.

Jongin decided to take a dip in the ocean water and Baekhyun had stayed behind on a towel, soaking up the rays of the sun. He didn’t even realize he had fallen into a quick slumber until he was shaken awake and something was shoved in his face that he eventually realized was the most unusual looking seashell he’d ever seen. 

Baekhyun had cherished the thing since, and to this day, still had it shoved into the very back of his nightstand drawer. He couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it.

“Baekhyu-- you are _seriously_ not crying over a fucking seashell right now,” Jongdae sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance but when he peers back at Baekhyun only to see a tear slide down his cheek, his eyes soften.

“Baek… don’t keep doing this to yourself. Today was supposed to be about having fun! Remember? You promised.” Jongdae wraps his friend in an awkward one armed hug and Baekhyun shakes his head to control of his emotions.

“You’re right. You’re totally right. I’m sorry, I’ll get it together. Promise.” He holds out a pinky as a truce and Jongdae grins as he interlaces their pinkies together.

Baekhyun feels his heart lighten just a bit more.

 

“Hey Jongdae, what happened to your eye?” Yixing inquires as he dips a fry in ketchup before popping it in his mouth. 

Lu Han and Minseok stop feeding each other to stare at the brunette. “Huh, I didn’t even notice you had a black eye,” Minseok says, leaning away from Lu Han to inspect his face more intently.

“Turns out blonde over here actually does have that black belt he’s always bragging about. He moved so fast, I swear I blinked and suddenly my eye was in exploding pain. It was crazy,” Jongdae recounts dramatically and Baekhyun throws a crumpled up napkin at him. Jongdae sticks out his tongue in a totally mature way.

“What _actually_ happened was Jongdae rudely yelled in my ear while I was watching The Choice and scared me half to death. I was thinking maybe the person was trying to rob more or worse, kill me so I whipped out my handy hapkido skills and threw a quick punch. Easy.”

Jongdae scoffs with an affronted expression. “Are you saying I’m easy Baekhyun Byun?”

Baekhyun cackles, a devilish smirk crossing his face that he just _knows_ will grate on the other’s nerves. “That’s exactly what I’m saying Jongdae Kim.”

“And here we go,” Minseok mutters, shaking his head at the duo. As if on cue, Baekhyun and Jongdae begin throwing insults back and forth and small smile tugs up one side of his lips. Just like old times.

 

It’s six o’clock and Baekhyun is convinced he’s going to have a terrible sunburn tomorrow, if when he took off his sunglasses while they were eating and Jongdae nearly laughing until soda came out his nose was any indication. Baekhyun was _this_ close to giving him another black eye.

They’ve been walking around for the better part of the day and after leaving the food court, they hit up most of the rides they’d missed or walked past. 

The sun is starting to set little by little and the group decides it’s time to call it a night. As they’re searching for which direction the exist is, they all find their eyes focused on a big commotion in the dead center of the festival. 

It’s a… 

“Water gun fight yes!” Jongdae shouts and pulls a huge water gun from his backpack. _Why the hell did he even think to pack that?_ Baekhyun thinks incredulously.

Jongdae starts toward the crowd but stops when he notices he’s the only one moving forward. “Are you guys coming or what?”

Minseok, Lu Han, Yixing, and Baekhyun all share a glance before shrugging in a very _what the hell_ type of way before they all race to the fun. Baekhyun belatedly realizes he doesn’t even have a water gun until one is shoved in his hands by some random guy and he’s getting squirted in the face. 

It’s a frenzy and Baekhyun barely registers half of what’s going on except that his body is quickly becoming soaked yet again and he finally feels like he can _breathe._

He feels himself being sprayed in all directions and tries to retaliate as fast as his hands and legs will let him. Then, it’s as if someone with a freaking _water hose_ is spraying his back and he’s getting ready to turn around, water gun fully pumped and everything when a surprisingly deep voice is next to his ear.

Baekhyun yelps, and spins around so fast he thinks he got whiplash and just sprays. And sprays, and _sprays._

“Jeez how much what is in that thing,” the tall stranger laughs as he’s wiping his face and Baekhyun almost collapses on the ground because this guy is fucking _hot._

He’s tall, with only what Baekhyun can imagine is soft light brown locks. His eyes are huge but his ears are even bigger and while it makes him look like Yoda from Star Wars, he can’t help but find them completely adorable. The guy is wearing plain dark blue swim trunk and a black sleeveless tee that’s soaked and Baekhyun can vaguely see the outline of abs and _oh my gosh he is so…_

“Um, I actually… don’t know. Some random person gave it to me,” Baekhyun replies sheepishly, a small blush dusting his cheeks and the guy gives him a wide smile with a hint of dimple in there. Can the ground swallow him now? Seriously, he was too cute. How can someone be adorable and sexy at the same time?

“Well hi, I’m Chanyeol,” Chanyeol offers a big hand out to shake and Baekhyun takes it shyly. Chanyeol’s hands feel calloused, like he’s done tons of hard labor meanwhile Baekhyun’s hands has the elegance of a pianist. His grip makes him feel strangely safe and he doesn’t want to let go.

Baekhyun is quick to snatch his hand away though, the familiar feelings scaring him. He’s still not over Jongin right? So he _definitely_ shouldn’t feel like he wants to start something new with this stranger. With _Chanyeol._

“Oh so I see you’ve met Baekhyun already,” Jongdae sidles up next to the taller brunette and Baekhyun’s mouth drops open.

“Y-you two _know_ each other?” 

Jongdae peers at him curiously. “Yeah…”

Baekhyun clears his throat awkwardly. Why is he being so weird about it? It’s not even a big deal!

“Cool,” he nods and Chanyeol just looks between the two. 

“Yeah, so Baekhyun,” Chanyeol faces the shorter male with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. “Would you want to… hang out sometime?”

Baekhyun’s eyes widen and Jongdae quietly slides away to give them some privacy, but not before giving the blonde a _you better tell me everything or I’m gonna drown you in the tub_ look.

“Uh--” Baekhyun’s mind seems to short circuit and his mouth snaps shut. Chanyeol’s face falls.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to--”

“No!” Baekhyun interrupts, resting a hand on the tallers forearm for a second before returning it to his side. “No, I-I’d love to hang out,” he finishes with genuine smile and Chanyeol’s momentarily stunned at it’s beauty. He lets out a relieved breath. 

“Awesome. I’ll just give you my number and we can work something out?”

“Sounds good,” Baekhyun agrees but stops short when he remembers his phone is in Jongdae’s bag and he has no idea where the other went off to. “Actually, I’ll just give you my number and you can text me whenever?”

“Sure!” Chanyeol readily hands the device to Baekhyun and the latter fumbles around a bit before successfully entering his number. They’re fingers brush when he gives Chanyeol his phone back and he internally smacks himself at how cliche this all feels but he can’t help the slight flutter in his chest.

Chanyeol pockets his phone and opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by an unfamiliar voice calling his name somewhere behind the shorter. Chanyeol gives him an saddened smile.

“I guess that’s my cue.” He rubs the back of his neck, seeming hesitant to rejoin his waiting friends. 

“Guess so,” Baekhyun finishes lamely. He would never admit to himself that he also didn’t want the tall brunette to leave. He looks at down at the floral flip-flops he’d bought earlier that day courtesy of Minseok’s continuous prompting.

“Hey.” He jumps when Chanyeol lays a delicate hand on his chin, forcing it up to meet his shining eyes. “You should smile more. You look beautiful when you do.” Baekhyun’s tempted to hit the other at the cheesy line but a his face flames up instead and he almost chokes on his spit when Chanyeol winks at him before whisking himself away.

Curse him and his ability to make Baekhyun feel like he’s swallowed a billion butterflies and melt into a pile of Chanyeol goo.

 

As Jongdae is driving him home, he continues to peg Baekhyun to tell him what went down between Chanyeol and he but he can’t bring himself to relive the embarrassment so he opts to staying silent.

“I haven’t seen Chanyeol that whipped in a while you know,” Jongdae comments as they’re turning down Baekhyun’s street. “He seemed to really like you so don’t mess it up.”

“I thought you were supposed to be _my_ best friend Dae,” Baekhyun laughs, punching his arm lightly.

“And I _am_. Which is why I’m warning you that if you mess this up, I’m _really_ gonna drown you in the tub.”

 

As Baekhyun is finding a comfortable spot in his bed after the long day he’s had, his phone suddenly sounds from an incoming message.

 

 **From:** Unknown  
_Heyyy_

 **To:** Unknown  
_Hello?_

 **From:** Unknown  
_Oh sorry. It’s Chanyeol ><  
From the festival?_

 **To:** Chanyeol  
_I remember you, don’t worry haha  
What’s up?_

 **From:** Chanyeol  
_I was thinking we could meet up at this really good cafe maybe this friday?_  
Pls say yesss  
I really want to get to know you better  
You seem nice  
And cute

 **To:** Chanyeol  
_Friday sounds great!_  
I… want to get to know you better too  
And i’m NOT cute!!

 **From:** Chanyeol  
_But you are  
I could almost call you adorable_

 **To:** Chanyeol  
_I’m going to sleep_  
Goodnight.  
p.s. stop calling me cute or i’ll punch u

 **From:** Chanyeol  
_See? Adorable_  
But goodnight!  
Sweet dreams ♡

 

Baekhyun locks his phone with the dumbest smile on his face. He snuggles deeper into his comforter, realizing this is the first time he’s slept in his bed in the past month. 

He dreams of cafes, calloused hands, and the slow but steady mending of his heart.


End file.
